The Essence of Womanhood and the Beauty of Bengali Women as Depicted in Tagore’s Fiction

Abstract

This article seeks to explore the beauty of Bengali women which is a recurring feature in Tagore’s fiction.  She has been portrayed realistically and beautifully in his fiction. Tagore glorifies the beauty of Bengali women and idealized womanhood in some of his short stories as well as in his novels. Tagore portrays them as an ordinary domestic being that possess moral attitudes and have their own identity in the society. Therefore, he gave priority to women in society and played an important role as a social reformer through his literary works. Some of the women protagonists in his fiction are not only beautiful but linger longest in the memory like the character of Sucharita in the novel Gora, a young woman, in the short story Skeleton, Urmimala in Two sisters, Chandra in the short story, Punishment, Giribala in Fury Appeased, or a young widow in My Fair Neighbour. His main focus was on women emancipation, his writings aimed for women’s liberation, equality, freedom, and their rights. The central theme of his writings was the social injustice against women. He wanted women’s active participation in the society. Through his literary work Tagore encouraged and advocated gender equality and women rights.